love

Do you have joy this Christmas season?

/ Lesa / 4 Comments

b0a72c0de8112cec62b8a7de13c7eedaIsaiah 55:12 (ESV)

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Joy.  The last word in my series, and an important one…especially as 2016 comes to an end.  It’s been a tough year for a lot of people.  Six of my friends have lost a parent this year, my dad lost his third wife, there have been cancer diagnoses, other illnesses, suicides…the list goes on.  How do you find joy in the midst of all of this?  I think you have to choose it.

When I feel overwhelmed, I look for joy in the simple things.  It may seem trivial…and of course it does not take away the pain of what is going on, but it does help me to take the focus off of the bad.  Some of the things that give me joy:

Spending time with my hubby.
Having family time with my kiddos…which is hard because their schedules are so crazy.
A cafe mocha from Starbucks (hey don’t underestimate a good cup of coffee).
Walking in the rain with Lucy…I can talk to myself and no one can see me doing it because of the umbrella (smile).
Hearing a baby laugh.
Being in nature…if it’s the ocean that is a bonus.
Coming home to my dog Lucy…she always makes me feel like I’m the most important person in the world…and I guess I am since I’m her person (smile).
Puppies and kittens…luckily the internet is full of these so I don’t have to adopt any more furry babies…four is enough for me!
Laughing with a friend.

These are just some of the things that bring me joy.  They are simple, but things don’t have to be grand to bring us joy.  My friend Tara has a great perspective on joy that she shares in her blog “Songs of Joy“.   You should check it out!

I encourage you to find joy in the simple things.  Life is too short and finding joy can help bring us peace, hope, and love.

Peace, Hope, Love, Joy…the words of this holiday season.  I hope you have them all, but especially love…because love matters.

Are you being love this Christmas season?

/ Lesa / 2 Comments

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This Christmas season I’ve been reflecting on the words of Advent…peace, hope, love and joy.  This week my word has been love and I’m sure you know that this one is my favorite (smile).

When I became a mother for the first time, I could not believe the immediate, overwhelming feeling of love I had for my son.  I knew I would love my child, but I really had no comprehension for the intensity of that love.  I couldn’t imagine loving anything or anyone more than I loved him.  Of course I loved my husband and my family, but this was a love I had not experienced before and it was very powerful. So much so, that I couldn’t imagine being able to love another child as much as I loved him.  It just didn’t seem physically possible to me.  I was actually really concerned about it when I learned I was pregnant with my daughter.  Could I possibly love her as much as I loved him?  The answer is yes.  I don’t know how it is possible, but my heart just expanded to depths I didn’t know were possible.  I did indeed love her every bit as much as I loved him.  To me, it really is quite the miracle that we have the capacity for this much love.  And it’s beautiful because to me it is a picture of how God must love all of us.  We are all His children so just imagine how big His heart is for us.  My mind just can’t comprehend it!

As I prepare for all the festivities of Christmas, I try to remember why Jesus came to earth…because God so loved the world.  Love.  God is love and to me Jesus is the greatest example for us of that love.  Jesus showed us what love looks like.  He didn’t let anything stop him from loving others, and he commanded us to do the same.  It’s not easy.  Love is easy, hard, and messy all at the same time, but it is so important. This article posted on Un*Lost shows us how important it really is to human beings. Science has shown that the need to be loved could be considered one of our most basic and fundamental needs.  Science also shows that we have a parallel need to love and care for others.

12391764_767543386681173_2827549231088575546_nI really like this quote by Liam Neeson.  As we celebrate Christmas with friends and family, let’s remember that there are some who have been abandoned by their loved ones.  There are some that have been told they can’t love or be loved.  Lets change that. Lets be Jesus to others.  Lets love beyond our capacity because that is when God shows up. Lets love one another as He has loved us.

Because love matters…

 

 

Do you have peace this Christmas season?

/ Lesa / 6 Comments

I can hardly believe that it is December 6th already.  The older I get the faster time goes…which is really scary because I can’t imagine it going any faster. Before you know it, Christmas will be here and then we will be counting down the new year. 2017…I remember when the year 2000 was a big deal and we are almost 17 years in already.  Crazy!

During this time of year, there are four words that we hear a lot about…

Peace
Hope
Love
Joy

And the reason for these words this time of year is this:

Luke 2:10-11
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

christmas-peace-on-earth-christmas-peace-on-earth-peace-on-earth-6kfnr3-clipartBecause I need to remember these four words this holiday season, I’ve been reflecting on them a lot lately.  Today I’m going to start with Peace. How are you doing in the peace department?  I have to be honest, it’s been tough for me.

So much has happened lately.  In recent months, several of my friends have lost a parent.  The election…need I say more?  I’ve seen way too many suicides, physical assaults, property damage, etc.  The KKK paraded in North Carolina this weekend for goodness sake! I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.  The list goes on and on.  How can I expect to have peace in the midst of all of this?

I’ve had experiences where peace will just come over me.  It’s like a magical experience where all the stress and worries are just lifted away.  Have you ever experienced that?  It’s amazing when it happens.  But what if it doesn’t happen?

Sometimes I think we need to create peace for ourselves.  It might mean unplugging from social media for a bit, practicing a discipline that centers us, making time to do something that we enjoy, etc.  When things are stressful, we tend to fill up our days with busy work to distract us. To gain peace, sometimes we just need to be still.

One thing that helps me is to be in almost constant communication with God. There is so much happening in this world that I just don’t get.  And it can be really frustrating and feel hopeless at times.  Seeing the hurt in others that I see on a daily basis can be really overwhelming.  So I talk to God a lot.  I ask Him a lot of questions.  And I’m still and listen for His voice.  And of course especially at this time of year, I reflect on the gift of Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I think the most important thing I can do to bring peace to my life is to try to be a peace maker.  It is not always easy.  Sometimes I hear people say things and my gut reaction is to just want to cut them out of my life.  I always try to take a step back and look at things from their perspective.  I remind myself that we aren’t always going to agree with each other.  And, after all, I am called to love even those who I strongly disagree with.

So let there be peace on earth…and let it begin with me.

And I think a little peace could bring some love into the world…and love matters.

 

Hold onto those rabbit ears…

/ Lesa / 2 Comments

3d1d2912d5f866f10ad8c197590f15d1So they say God works in mysterious ways.  Sometimes He works in really weird ways too.  I recently got back from a trip to Florida.  With potty stops and gas ups, it’s a 16 hour drive.  So as you can imagine I was pretty tired when I went to bed on the night I got home.  I woke up early the next day to go to church and the first image that popped into my mind when I woke up was an old television..and I was specifically focused on the antenna or as some people call them “rabbit ears”.  I wasn’t dreaming about televisions…it just was the first thing that came to me.  AND I got the impression from God that I needed to write about it.  What??

Maybe you are young enough that you don’t even  know what I’m talking about when I mention a TV antenna.  Showing my age (sigh).  Back in the day, when you wanted to change the channel on your television you had to actually get up and turn a dial on the TV.  There were only a few channels and you were lucky if they came in clearly.  This is where the “rabbit ears” or antenna came in handy.  You would have to position them in different ways until the picture came into focus.  Sometimes as soon as you let go and stepped away the static would return.  We would gently let go and creep away as if to sneak away from the television.  Hence the aluminum foil you see in the picture.  That was a trick we would do to mimic the pressure of our hands.  It was a delicate process and it was so frustrating!

In my last post, I talked a little bit about the election and why some people might be upset about the outcome.  Since then, I’ve seen a ton of back and forth between people on Facebook.  The one thing that really jumps out at me in these conversations is the need for some to be right.  They argue their point so much that they lose sight of what the other person is trying to say.  They dismiss the other person’s feelings.

When you look at someone’s situation, it may not be clear to you why they feel the way they do about what is happening.  You may only see “static”.  It doesn’t make sense to you.  But for them, it is very real.  Take the time to stop and listen.  Flex your compassion muscles, even if you don’t totally understand, and maybe the “picture” may become a little clearer.  It’s easy to dismiss someone’s feelings when we don’t understand.  Try stepping into their shoes.  Can we just agree that if you aren’t in a group of people who are marginalized, you might not get why they might be upset about something?  You have nothing to worry about…but maybe they do?

I’ve seen so many people reply to comments, “Get over it already!  There have been plenty of presidents that have won that I didn’t like.  I wasn’t a cry baby about it.” These people aren’t “hearing” why these people are upset.  Yes, maybe they voted for Hillary and she didn’t win.  They are more upset about who won because of what it might mean for them.  And again, if you aren’t in one of the marginalized groups, you may not get that, but for them it is a real concern.

I was hoping things would have calmed down by now.  And it’s on both sides.  We need to respect each other.  Maybe agree to disagree at times.  I can say that I see people with really strong opinions about things that they really don’t know anything about.  I’ll give an example of something that I run into a lot…

People have admitted to me that they are starting to be able to wrap their brains around someone being gay.  They don’t “get it” totally, but they understand it a little more.  And then they will say, “But I just can’t get behind the whole transgender thing.”  9 times out of 10 when I ask them what it means to be transgender they either don’t know, or they have it completely wrong.  How can you be so against something that you know nothing about?  And these are the types of things I see in the arguments on FB.  Again, it’s all about being right…not about understanding.

So, I guess the bottom line is this…

Let’s have some compassion for one another.  Let’s listen to one another.  Let’s realize that people are feeling a little raw right now.  They may need space, they may need some understanding, they may need to be heard, and maybe they just need someone to hold onto them until the picture of their life is clearer.  Let’s be gentle, let’s offer support, let’s not back away from things that make us uncomfortable (and are sometimes frustrating).

We used to put so much time and effort into getting clear pictures on our television screens.  Shouldn’t we at least give that same time and effort into seeing and understanding our fellow-man?

I never said love was easy.  But it matters…now more than ever.

…And here’s hoping I don’t wake up to any more random weird images (smile).

Love you to life…

/ Lesa / 2 Comments

01e9a0a2a24b4d1145d1518bce5df01bba8048fa80Last summer this was a vibrant, beautiful plant.  I usually take my plants off of my deck for the winter, but last year I never got around to it.  This pot sat outside all winter through all kinds of snow, sleet, and rain.  Now normally at the beginning of spring, I will bring all of my pots out of the garage and get some nice spring flowers to plant to make my deck look nice.  Well, if you are friends with me in real life, you know that my deck was in dire need of repair.  In fact, the whole thing needed to be replaced (except for the structure).  Since I wasn’t sure when that was going to take place, I never got around to planting flowers.  So, this pot sat on my deck with dead twigs in it.  I don’t know if you can tell from this picture, but there are some twigs in there that have zero life sprouting from them.  And that’s how it looked all summer.  I did plant flowers for my front porch so every day I would go around and water my flowers…and the dead twigs on my deck.  I wasn’t really sure why I was watering a pot of dead flowers. Something in me just knew that flowers are supposed to have water…and although these were just twigs I felt compelled to water them.  And they stayed dead…all summer…until the first week in October when these beautiful little red sprigs blossomed.  I couldn’t believe it!  All that tender care all summer and it waited until the fall to spring to life!

I can’t help but be reminded of the people I have met along my journey when I think about this plant.  So many of their stories start with thoughts of death, despair, hopelessness, and they are barely clinging to life.  It’s when someone comes along and offers them unconditional love without fail that finally brings them back to life. They regain their spark, their zest for life, their love for themselves.  I have seen it happen in my own son, and in many people who I have met along the way.

I have been in a deep struggle lately.  It’s why I haven’t written much.  It is becoming increasingly more difficult for me to be a part of the church…Big C church.  It is getting harder and harder for me to separate myself from what I’m seeing happening in the lives of so many.  There are too many lifeless twigs that are dying from the lack of love and my heart just can’t take it.  It is a daily struggle and I have to keep reminding myself that these people…”church people” do not represent the God that I know and love.  People have accused me of being divisive.  They say that I talk too much about the bad parts of the church.  I’m sorry, but I can’t ignore what is happening.  There is too much at stake.  Too many people that need love to thrive.

But rather than me share with you what’s happening, I invite you to watch this video to hear from the people who are actually living it.  It is an hour and a half, but it is worth every minute.  I sobbed through most of it because I have met people in these situations.  I have entered their stories.  I have shared their grief.  And some are no longer part of this world because no one loved them back to life.

If you call yourself a Christian, I urge you to watch this video.  Especially if you are a Christian that thinks you can’t be gay and a Christian.  I’m not sure what path God is going to take me on next…but I know that the status quo just isn’t going to work for me anymore.  If you watch the video and have questions, I’d love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you if you are local…or we can chat via email.  Be the love that so many desperately need…because love matters.